2025 has come and gone again. It was a year of many joys, particularly teaming up with Frolic and all our many adventures in D.C. with both her and Neutron, continuing to decorate my new space-themed library, and finally finishing the first draft of the novel set in my magical musical phoenix world. But it was also a year of many stresses thanks to my job as a federal employee, and a year of many small but very real sorrows, as with each joy and each stress I wanted more than anything to pick up the phone and call my mom to tell her about it.
With the end of 2025 comes my perennial regret that I didn’t write more on this website. I had some great plans to post about the books I was reading and loving and what I was learning from them about writing, but with everything else going on, that never really happened. But with the end of 2025 also comes the time to talk about my favorite books of the year, so there’s no time like the present.
I read 77 books in total in 2025. This is probably overstating things a bit, as I read the entire Nevermoor series four or five times, and the entire Murderbot series twice. In general, I did a lot of reading. Comfort books was the place to be in 2025. But I did read a number of new books, some I hated but finished because I was invested even though I hated them; some I found to be just okay; some I liked but ultimately couldn’t tell you anything about now that we’ve hit 2026; and a few that I absolutely loved and will be going on my book recs page, which of course is now updated to include them.
The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray by Christine Calella: Who can say no to adventure on the high seas? Not I. This book has adventure galore, complete with pirates, intrigue, betrayal, friendship, romance, and secrets, and it’s delightful at every turn. But what I love so much about it is the core of this story: two sisters, both so different, putting everything on the line and braving their worst fears to prove themselves, save their family, and save each other. I was particularly impressed with the balance of the two points of view in this book, the differences between the two sisters shining through even as their stories braid together with effortless synergy. This is also one of the first books I read with an aromantic and asexual protagonist and I love it for that.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: I have to admit, I went into this one with pretty low expectations. I didn’t enjoy the last Hunger Games prequel, and we already knew Haymitch’s story from Catching Fire, right? But in March, one of the interns in my office started reading it and told me that I needed to give it a try, and she was absolutely right. By the end of the first chapter, everything we think we know about Haymitch has been flipped on its head. Action-packed, heartbreaking, and incredibly timely in its exploration of propaganda, it’s safe to say that Sunrise on the Reaping redefined what a prequel can do and so rewired my brain a little bit. I can’t wait for the movie.
Artemis and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: I’ve reread The Martian several times since I first read it in 2016 (I think). It has remained one of my favorite sci fi books because of how grounded it is. It’s so grounded that sometimes I forget it’s fiction ad not a novelization of an actual event that happened in space like Apollo 13. So even though I’ve actually owned Artemis for a long time, and even though friends have recommended Project Hail Mary to me, I’ve hesitated to pick them up, because I knew they weren’t grounded in quite the same way as The Martian. But I finally read both this year, and I really liked them. Artemis is a heist novel, and it’s so much fun. Project Hail Mary is a let’s-save-the-world-with-a-crazy-suicide-mission-because-the-sun-is-being-eaten book, and the number of times I cried while reading it surprised me, and I wasn’t crying for the reasons you’d think given that description. They are still grounded sci fi, but they’re grounded in different ways from The Martian. And I think one of the things I actually like so much about both of them is just how different they are. It’s really impressive to see an author write three books that are so different but still so good, and I really admire an author who’s willing to try new things and then succeeds at those new things.
Silverborn: the Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend: This is the fourth book in the Nevermoor series, and it’s a murder mystery, complete with dragons, long-lost relatives, friends new and old, and more magical lessons with our favorite evillest man who ever lived. I read this entire book at least four times this year, not to mention all the times I picked it up again to read chapters 42 to the end or just to read the last chapter on its own. So yeah, it’s a favorite. Anyone who’s been listening to me talk about the Nevermoor series for the last few years would question that. This book answered so many questions I’ve been pondering after the first three books, but yet it raised so many more fascinating questions and ideas for me to ponder while I wait for the next one. I have to admit that this is probably my least favorite book in the series so far—I think it was doing too much for the space it was given and needed at least another hundred pages to flesh out the new part of Nevermoor and the new characters while also maintaining the wonder of the earlier books in the series, and I say this knowing full well the book is already almost 600 pages and everything I’ve heard says the publishing industry is looking for shorter books right now, especially for kids. But hey, I would have loved those extra hundred pages! Also, when I say it’s my least favorite of the series, I should emphasize that these books are all so good that being my least favorite is still a phenomenal book that is accomplishing so so much. Is it too soon to be impatient for Nevermoor 5?
System Collapse by Martha Wells: I absolutely all things Murderbot, and this latest installment is no exception. We get new characters and old friends, and a new situation following on from the events of the novel. Also poor Murderbot is full of emotions it doesn’t understand or want to have. This is an excellent follow-up to Network Effect, and an intriguing setup for the new one coming out this year, but it was also an incredibly powerful story in its own right, all about storytelling and agency and of course full of Murderbot’s trademark humor.
Cece Rios trilogy by Kaela Rivera: This middle grade fantasy series had me gripped from the first page and didn’t let go until the end. I stayed up all night to finish each of these books (though admittedly I was in Italy that week and the jet lag might have helped). This is another one about sisters and family and fitting in, and the lengths to which you will to save the ones you love. When Cece’s perfect sister is carried off by a desert monster, Cece will stop at nothing to get her back, even if she needs to betray her parents and the rest of her village and ally herself with desert monsters herself to do it. This series was so tense and emotional, but the world was also so rich and creative, and I loved the confidence of Kaela Rivera’s writing and storytelling. It also felt like each of the books in this series accomplished something complete on its own, even though it was also part of the larger story, and that was really cool to see.
A Fae in Finance by Juliet Brooks: Full disclosure, I’m friends with Juliet. She’s in my writing group, and I actually got to read the first draft of this book. I am so so excited to see it on shelves and to get to shout about it to the world. There’s something really special about seeing a project in its infancy and then getting to see the final, polished product. But there’s also something really special about this book. Mirie has a terrible job and a terrible boss, and when she gets tricked into eating faerie food at a business dinner and gets stuck in Faerie indefinitely, the only thing her boss does is make sure she has a secure wi fi connection to keep right on working. Mirie has to find her own way home. This book is laugh-out-loud funny, but also incredibly heartfelt. There’s a dash of romance, an incredible cat, and a whole lot of shenanigans. I think my favorite part is the book’s exploration of the daily minutia of what it would be like to live and work in a world where supernatural creatures like faeries, vampires, mermaids, and so on are a real but still new part of society.
If you’ve read any of these books, let me know what you thought of them. I really am going to try to write more about books during the year in 2026, but we’ll see if that actually happens. There are only so many hours in the day and my fiction needs to come first.
Speaking of fiction, a quick and very unsubtle reminder that I published two short stories this year. “Born in Flame and Song” came out in Cast of Wonders in March, and “Éclairs for Elodie” was published in Abyss and Apex in July. You should go check them out if you haven’t already.
Until next time, happy new year friends!